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Musclecar Restoration and Design

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United States
Pleasant Plains, IL
Musclecar Restoration and Design

Owned by Rick Nelson who has been restoring Muscle Cars for 47 years.

Now retired but traveling all over North America inspecting, authenticating and documenting the 1970 LS6 Chevelle as well as doing mechanical repairs on the 70 Chevelle for clients.

04/20/2026

Up for sale is a complete, recently built and real LS6 engine. I restored an LS6 Chevelle for a customer and he wanted to put a driver (donor) engine in the car while he owned it and save the original engine until he sold the car which he recently did. This engine (not original to that car) was totally rebuilt in February of 2017 and estimates he has only put less than 300 miles on it since. This is a 3963512 block, cast on April 6, 1970, assembled on June 4th of 1970 and with a partial VIN of 10R257151. The engine has never been decked and the broach marks are still visible. The heads are 2964291 dated E 8 70 and E 9 70, the intake is 3963569 and water pump is 3989811. The engine was rebuilt with a Comp Cams CL11-671-4 Nostalgia solid lifter cam with very similar specs to the original and was purchased well before the flat tappet cam and lifter issue we hear of today. Also included is the original HP timing chain cover with the angled timing tab. The 1111437 9M10 distributor does not come with the engine but may be purchased separately.

The engine was dynoed in October of 2017 with a hp output of 460.2 and a torque of 496.6. The only non stock thing done to this engine was a .030 over bore, all other internal items in this engine are stock LS6 with the exception of a double roller timing chain and the valvetrain. Total cost of the engine rebuild was $5,492.50 in 2017 which is equivalent to about $7,400 in today’s money. One would be hard pressed to start from scratch and build this for less money today. This engine builder has built over 20 LS6 engines for me since moving my restoration shop to Illinois and never had any issues with any of them.

The engine is currently mounted in a Lane Automotive SCR5115 engine crate complete with engine mounts. These crates have a retail of $445 and the engine will be shipped in this crate for you to keep. It is currently ready to ship. All you will need to do is add a carburetor and distributor and you are good to go. Was $15,000, NEW PRICE $12,900 and you arrange shipping. This engine is dynoed and broke in already with 300 miles driven on it. Engine is located in Pleasant Plains, IL.

SOLD

Please message me for more information or if interested.
Rick Nelson
MuscleCar Restoration and Design

04/06/2026

Many times I am asked to inspect a car 'pre-restoration' or during the restoration rather than the usual post restoration. This is a VERY good idea as this can save the owner and or restorer a lot of time and money if they know exactly what parts are wrong before they restore them. I can also instruct them on restoration procedures, colors and techniques before they start on them rather than to have to fix them later once the car is fully restored and assembled.

This 04D Kansas City built LS6 was sold to the current owner, Ron B. as a fairly complete LS6 though several parts were later sold to the buyer from the seller and the car was in fairly good but disassembled condition. There was some rust in odd places but nothing too traumatic that he could not handle it as their shop is well equipped to do restorations. Ron is very well versed on restorations himself having done many over the years so this task would be fairly normal for him. The car was originally built as a Black Cherry, 771 Saddle bucket interior, white strip, LS6, M22 and 4.10 rear from the factory and is being restored as such.

He called upon me for technical support as well as being able to give him a full 15 page inspection report. The inspection proved that all of the drivetrain was original to the car, the buildsheet and POP were real and that the car was missing a lot of the small trinket items necessary to finish the restoration. With this report however, Ron was able to locate most of the needed parts and have them delivered before he started the restoration in earnest. This is very important in order to not slow down the whole restoration process. Ron was great to work with and a great host. His willingness to learn more about his car and how to restore it made the task much more enjoyable for me. I will also be restoring some of the components for Ron to help him out as well.

04/01/2026

WARNING: There is a LOT of photos with this inspection.
You may remember me posting 3 teaser photos of this Chevelle back in October of 2025. This original owner, (originally) Uniroyal equipped 1970 LS6, Turbo 400, 4.10 Chevelle with only 21,359 miles was recently found in a non climate controlled tuck under garage (and the undercarriage shows it) in southern Illinois and still owned by the same family. The original owner bought the car brand new from the dealership that he worked at and for the purpose of drag and street racing. Shortly after buying the car, he purchased a crate LS6, pulled the original engine with only 200 miles on it and installed the crate LS6 engine to go racing. The car ran a best of 12.21 at 118.06 mph with only minor modifications made to the drivetrain such as slicks, super tune and a tuned over the counter Holley and headers. I did not find any internal modifications made to the crate engine or the assembly line engine from stock upon disassembly and both engines still retained their original bores and cams with only the intake, headers and carb being changed out from original. Fortunately, the family still had the original 4492 carb. Not sure how those ¼ mile numbers were possible but they are documented.

The family decided to let me take the car to my shop, research it, do a complete 15 page inspection, photo document it and get it thoroughly cleaned up and reinstall the original engine as they were thinking of maybe selling it to the next caretaker as Jim, the original owner had passed away some 18 years earlier. A thorough bath, interior shampooing and wiping down, window cleaning and a buffing were in order and the results were better than I had hoped.

The amount of paperwork that came with the car was amazing, 3 build sheets, one of which I located during the cleanup, POP, window sticker, original photos from when the car was first purchased, raced, run in parades, hundreds of time slips, dealer invoice, June 2005 Chevy Rumble magazine article, original email correspondences between the owner and Doug Marion in preparation for the magazine article, original title, appraisal from Barry Wallner from 5/16/89, original Illinois title, license applied for receipt from February 9, 1970, crate motor receipt from the dealer, any receipts for parts bought for the car and interestingly enough, a hand written map to where they drove out to the beer parties were with a notation that stated, “NOT FOR POLICE USE” was also in the binder with the car. This car is as real and as original as one would expect considering the fact that it was heavily raced and put away wet. Oddly enough, even the original F41 shocks are in place other than the right rear which was a Gabriel shock. Maybe the original was damaged or this was an old race trick.

I was able to find a new home for the car in Colorado with the new caretaker and only hours from the original owner’s daughter who will be staying in touch with the new owner. He contacted me immediately after I posted the original find and wanted this car depending on what the family decided. Talk about patience but it paid off for him as he just picked the car up from me last Sunday. I was hoping to buy this car but knew my many years of restoring cars would take hold of me and I would end up restoring it which would have been a shame. Thankfully the new owner wants to keep it as a survivor for now and plans on bringing it to MCACN to have it Vintage certified. Enjoy the car and the story.

02/28/2026

This is a very nice and unique LS6. When the owner, Pat K contacted me about having an inspection done, I did what I always do and did a preliminary check of the car before spending his money. I see no reason to waste a customer's money if I can see by photographs that there is a major issue with a car's paperwork or stampings rather than to wait till I am there inspecting a car and then tell them give then the bad news while holding my hand out. That is just not right.

When Pat sent me photos of this car and it's stampings, I got very nervous as the engine and transmission were stamped with identical 19B198### stampings but this was on a June 1970 car. Why did a June of 1970 Chevelle have a 9 stamped in the VIN for the year. I might have been more open minded if the car was a very early 1970 built car, but to see that in June of 70???

Something really nagged me though so I kept on it for many days comparing his stampings to my database and doing as much research as I could on line. I had all but given up and was going to consider it a restamp when I found a 1970 LS6 Chevelle convertible in my database, thanks to a friend and fellow historian reminding me about it. That car had the exact same Tonawanda stamping of T0522CRV, a very similar casting date and with the VIN starting with the same 10B198###. It too had the same exact transmission stamping as the subject car. What was discovered after many more hours of discussion, research and sleuthing was that the assembly line had made an error that day when they stamped the VIN's on these cars.

That being said, if you own a Baltimore built 1970 SS Chevelle with a VIN starting at or near 198###, check your prefix numbers and see if they read 19B198 or 10B198. Check your deck stamp or in some cases it will be stamped on the bellhousing to engine fl**ge and also your transmission. I know James Apostolou had one but I never got to see the VIN stampings before he passed away so if anyone knows that car or you have a similar VIN'd car, please get in touch with me and let me know what you have as I would like to add your car to my database, certainly if it has the 09B198### VIN.

One more time, this is yet another case where spending your money to have your car inspected and authenticated can sometimes pay dividends.

The rest of Pat's car had very few issues other than a lot of reproduction, incorrect, missing or Chinese parts put on during the previous restoration. Those are being addressed and the car will be brought to the next level and a very nice investment LS6.

02/16/2026

For those of you restoring a 1970 Arlington built Chevelle, I took many photos recently of a 3540 mile LS6 I am working on, cleaning the whole car and going through the drivetrain. It has been in the shop for a couple of years as it has been fill in and am now getting things back together. I inspected this car out in Maryland back in 2023. This car is totally unrestored other than rebuilding the engine, transmission and going through the rear differential so everything currently is as found other than those items. A really great survivor to get details from if you are restoring an Arlington car and need to see how they were built. This is an 04A LS6.

01/24/2026

Somewhere in the next hour. Fingers crossed.

01/03/2026

I married an amazing woman this past year! I got the 428 CJ engine back from the builder after it ate a lifter and needed to install it back into this one owner survivor Mach 1 and get it back to him. However, now that I am a 1 man shop, that can be difficult. "Not a problem" as Annie says she will run up and help put it in the engine bay with literally 1/4" clearance on either side of the exhaust manifolds. Thanks to her and Keith Milliman, with me underneath, Keith running the cherry picker and Annie positioning the engine, we managed to get it all dropped in again. Anyone who has played with a big block Ford in a Mustang knows, this sucks! What a woman! At 64, she is still not afraid to get her hands dirty and will help me whenever I ask her. Love her!

12/31/2025

This stunning 70 LS6, M40 Turbo 400, 4.10 restoration in Fathom Blue was delivered to my shop for a full inspection by it's Minnesota owners just prior to he and his wife bringing it to MCACN for its debut. He did a fantastic job on the restoration and wasted no time after the inspection correcting most of the items that were incorrect on the inspection report. Talk about detail oriented, this car had it and was very pleasing to the eye. I had helped him for several years with technical input while he was restoring the car and it paid off. The owner performed most of the restoration himself and only farmed out some of the bigger things like bodywork and paint. I give him credit for his patience and perseverance. Because of his attention to detail, this LS6 will certainly be a great investment for them. NOT FOR SALE

12/28/2025

This Arlington Gobi Beige LS5 came to me from a repeat client and is the 2nd of 3 I will have inspected for him. He recently purchased this car on BaT and shipped it direct to me for a thorough 15 page inspection. He is very mechanically proficient and will be locating all the correct parts and making the corrections himself. I love to see these car owners strive to bring their cars up to the next level and am honored to be able to help them achieve them. This car has it's fair share of incorrect parts which I will cover in the photos but the owner will correct most of them. This was not a restored car but rather a one repaint, replacement interior, original drivetrain, glass and chassis. He wanted a great driver and once he makes the corrections will have that and more. NOT FOR SALE

12/24/2025

From Annie and I, Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all of our friends and loyal customers. It has been a great ride and we have met many new wonderful friends from all over North America.

Address

209 W Route 125
Pleasant Plains, IL
62677

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	8am - 12pm

Website

http://www.musclecarrestorationanddesign.com/

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